Baseball

K.C. puts Gonzalez on DL

Kansas City, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals placed outfielder Juan Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list Thursday because of stiffness in his lower back.

Gonzalez, a two-time MVP, left a game Friday at Oakland and already had missed four games. General manager Allard Baird said the move was retroactive to May 22.

Gonzalez has not played an entire injury-free season since he hit .325 with 35 home runs and 140 RBIs for Cleveland in 2001.

Signed in the offseason to provide power and run production, Gonzalez got off to a slow start — as did the entire team. But in a three-game series last week in Texas, he had three RBIs on four hits. For the year, he’s hitting .276 with five homers and 17 RBIs.

Taking his place on the roster was Byron Gettis, who made his major-league debut Thursday against Detroit in Gonzalez’s spot in right field. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 1998, Gettis was hitting .246 with 15 RBIs for Triple-A Omaha.

College baseball

UT players suspended

Arlington, Texas — Texas pitchers Justin Simmons and J. Brent Cox were suspended from the team Thursday for the rest of the Big 12 Conference baseball tournament following their arrests for public intoxication.

The suspensions were announced before the Longhorns, the No. 1 team in the major polls, beat Texas A&M, 13-6, in an elimination game. The school said only that the pitchers were suspended for “violation of team rules.”

Coach Augie Garrido said after the game that the players were sent home. The pitchers’ status for the NCAA Tournament won’t be determined until the team returns to Austin after the Big 12 tournament.

“Where it will end, we don’t know because we don’t have all of the information,” Garrido said, not elaborating.

Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said Simmons and Cox were arrested early Tuesday at a shopping center. Each was released after posting $211 bond.